Paizo recent job listings and salaries.

[MGibster]

Well, salary averages I'm sure are skewed by a small number of very highly paid people in the tech sector.

I've only visited the Seattle area once, and it was lovely except for all homeless people and the smell of pot which permeated the air in all places at all hours. I looked up the the average rent in Redmond, which is $2,400 a month, and just for fun, I went to an apartment finder site, entered an income of $42,000, and discovered I was limited to $1,400 a month for rent which isn't too bad. I was unable to find anything in Redmond I could afford on that salary, but I found several options in Seattle and a few other areas with the lowest being about $1,000. So it seems doable to live in Seattle to me on that salary. I didn't take a close look at how nice those apartments were though.

 

[Morrus]

"According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage of United States citizens as of December 2020 is $29.81, while the average weekly wage is $1034.41."

That's a year and a half old, but the hourly rate comes out to just over 59k and the weekly rate comes out to about 54k. Wages have been largely flat for most people, often barely keeping up with the rate of inflation so I wouldn't be too surprised if there wasn't much of an increase in those numbers. The idea that an average American can earn 70k+ a year in the remotely near future is a pipe dream.

The average American earns quite a bit more than me, then.

 

[Jer]

The average American earns quite a bit more than me, then.

They should be using the median for these things - that would be more informative.

 

[payn]

I've only visited the Seattle area once, and it was lovely except for all homeless people and the smell of pot which permeated the air in all places at all hours. I looked up the the average rent in Redmond, which is $2,400 a month, and just for fun, I went to an apartment finder site, entered an income of $42,000, and discovered I was limited to $1,400 a month for rent which isn't too bad. I was unable to find anything in Redmond I could afford on that salary, but I found several options in Seattle and a few other areas with the lowest being about $1,000. So it seems doable to live in Seattle to me on that salary. I didn't take a close look at how nice those apartments were though.

One of the most deceptive things about cost of living is the fact most households are dual income now. Sure, on your own 42K sounds tough in Redmond, but add another 42K to that and its more manageable. I believe this is why there isnt a lot more frustration out there than there ought to be around cost of housing.

Another thought on Paizo salary and a gig in the gaming industry. A good pal of mine was working for a printing company as a graphic artist. Made ok money and likely had a decent career path. He asked his wife how she felt about him taking a little bit of a pay dip to do something he loved. She was down for it and encouraged him to career change. He went to work for Fantasy Flight and is still loving it. On his own, he likely would not have made the trade.

 

[Maxperson]

They should be using the median for these things - that would be more informative.

And they shouldn't be using the U.S. It varies by state. The median hourly wage in Californian in 2016 was $19.76. The median hourly wage in the U.S. in 2016 was $14.00. That's a huge difference.

 

[fikuvino]

And they shouldn't be using the U.S. It varies by state. The median hourly wage in Californian in 2016 was $19.76. The median hourly wage in the U.S. in 2016 was $14.00. That's a huge difference.

Yep. Cost of living varies considerably from state to state, too, and from one part of a state to another. The proximity to a large city can have a huge effect, as well. For example, a wage that allows you to live alone in a small one-bedroom apartment in Austin may be enough to pay for the monthly rent of a small house in many other parts of Texas.

$40,000 a year is really minimal for someone living near Redmond. It is a decent income in small towns in many other states, though. $100,000 a year may be a middle class income in some places. You could easily support a family on that and have a fair amount of discretionary income (and even be working towards owning your own home) in others.

 

[fikuvino]

I commend Paizo for being so thorough in their job postings and giving upfront information about salaries and benefits.

It doesn't surprise me that the salaries are in the posted ranges, to be honest. Companies that focus on rpgs are essentially small publishers, and publishing is not a high dollar business, unless you are one of the major players. WOTC/Hasbro is the only company I know of right now that is pulling in a lot of money from rpg sales, and even they rely a lot on the money from the Magic CCG. It is no surprise that Steve Jackson Games focuses so heavily on Munchkin, as opposed to really pushing GURPS and other rpgs. Paizo may seem like a big player in the rpg world, but in the world of publishing in general it really falls more into the realm of a small specialty publisher. When you add to that the probable expense of maintaining offices in Redmond (which, arguably, isn't necessary), and being well past their most profitable years, chances are they really aren't rolling in money.

 

[aramis erak]

40-90 can't be average. That's a range of greater than the lower value. It's such a wide range as to be meaningless. You nmight as well say "the average student scored 0-100% in the test".

The average is in the region of 75.

It's pretty much 1 sigma... and the distro is long right tailed.

 

[MNblockhead]

I do like that they post the salaries. I wish more companies would do that. I'm in an industry where job titles can be used very differently in different companies making it hard to estimate the salary based on job title alone. Obviously I do my research and have a good idea what is typical pay for someone with my experience and credentials in different cities. But I've still wasted time applying and interviewing for jobs, only to learn that the salary was not acceptable. Its a waste of the companies time as well. Just give the salary or salary range in the job post.

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

I'm glad to realise that the full time salaries at a tiny company like mine are very competitive with those at the largest TTRPG companies!

Good to hear. If you fancy swapping some ideas on taking care of staff from a UK perspective, you would be very welcome to drop me a line.